Snapchat is a powerful communication tool because it allows for direct, personal stories in a fleeting format. To leverage Snapchat effectively for brands, content should bring something unique to the platform not found elsewhere. Stories should include elements like geofilters, drawings, videos, images and varied text to engage viewers. While still new, Snapchat is proving to be an important awareness tool for reaching millennials with fast-paced, ephemeral content in the moment.

1. “Snapchatisthemostpersonal
anddirectformof communication
soit’sespeciallypowerful,”says
GregoryLittley,alifecasterandcre-
ativestrategyleadforIcedMedia.
“Youmustbringauniquestory-
tellingaspecttoSnapchat—think
aboutif there’sasecondarystoryor
somethinguniquethatabrandhas-
n’tbeenabletocommunicateelse-
where.”
Aspartof SocialMediaWeek
2015NewYork,Littleyledan
“EphemeralMessaging
Masterclass”onSnapchat,the
photomessagingapplicationthat
allowsuserstotakephotos,record
videos,addtextanddrawingsand
sendthemtospecificrecipientsin
theformof“snaps.”Usersalsoseta
timelimit—upto10seconds—
forhowlongrecipientscanview
messages.Oncesentandviewed,
theydisappearfromtherecipient’s
deviceandfromSnapchat’sservers.
Currently,therearemorethan
100millionmonthlyactiveuserson
theplatformandmorethanone
billion“SnapchatStories”viewed
perday.Theappstartedoutaspeer-
to-peerbutisnowpeer-to-many
withthearrivalof the“Stories”fea-
ture,whereinfluencersandcelebri-
tiesoftenpostsnaps.Additionally,
thereisanew“Discover”feature,
whichisavailabletomediapartners
andcontentpublishers—CNN,
WarnerMusic,FoodNetworkand
ESPNareseveralcompaniesexperi-
mentingwithit.
Andthearrivalof thenew
“Snapcash”featureallowsusersto
sendpaymentstooneanother.
Brandsandcommunications
professionalsarebeginningto
leveragetheirpresenceonthe
mobileappinordertoreachmil-
lennialsandsharestoriesinthe
moment.Whilebrandsstillposton
othersocialoutletsandplatforms,
theyareusingSnapchattorollout
exclusiveorlimitedcontent.Also,
sponsoredstorieshavethepotential
toreacheveryonewhohasapublic
profile.
Snapchathasgivenusersthe
opportunitytoeditorializeworld
eventssuchasAustraliaDay,which
showcasedaworldviewof how
peoplewereusingtheapp,and
brandintegrationsuchasthe
Samsung-sponsoredAmerican
MusicAwardslivestream.Madonna
evenreleasedanewmusicvideofor
hersong“LivingforLove”viathe
Discoverfeature,whichwasavail-
ablefor24hours.
Creating a story
Remembertobe
“choiceful”withthe
featuresthatyou’re
using,Littleysaid.A
goodSnapchatstory
shouldincludethe
following:
1.Geofilters
2.Adrawing
element
3.Avideosnap
4.Animagefilter
5.Variedtextsizeandcolors
6.Emojiplacement
Thinkaboutwhereyouare
andhowyou’rebroadcastingtofol-
lowerswithgeofilters—similarto
locationsettingsonInstagram.
Changetheplacement,sizeand
colorof yourtext.Useadrawing
elementlikeastylussothatyour
textisneaterand
morelegible.Don’t
overuseemojis—if
youcansaysome-
thingwithanemoji
thenwhywriteit?
“Rightnow,
Snapchatispurely
anawarenesstool,”
Littleysaid.“It’sfast-
pacedandthereisquickadoption.
Inanefforttoservicethechatter
thatevolvesaroundthesnaps,usea
mixof storyviewandscreenshots.”
Leveraging a brand
Becauseof Snapchat’snature
andthefactthatphotosdisappear
inaninstant,thereismoreof an
openconversation.Onceabrand
approvesastory,Littleysaid,“itcan
pushforwardandhavemoreof an
opendialoguewiththecontentcre-
atorandtheaudience.”
Somesuggestionsonhowto
dothisaretappingaYouTube
expertorabloggertohelponboard
yourSnapchatprofile,launchinga
conversationcalendar,editorializ-
ingyourcontentandintegrating
yourproducts.“It’simportantwho
youreachouttoandthelegitimacy
of theircontent,”Littleysaid.
It’skeytoalsothinkabouta
longerleadtimesincetherecur-
rentlyisn’ta“staginghub”for
producingcontent,sobecareful
aboutpostingbeforethemes-
sageisready.Also,remember
thatthird-partyappsputyour
brandsatrisk,soit’sbestnotto
linkacrossprofiles.
Littleyalsoprovidedthe
followingtips:
•Clearlytranslateyour
storyforSnapchat’sspecificplat-
formanditsviewers.
•Succinctlyusevideo,
imagesandtextsothattheyare
indicativeof consumerbehavior.
•Presentliveeventsand
exclusiveexperienceswhenpos-
sible.
•Don’t“oversnap”—each
messageshouldliveforabouttwo
secondsina10-snapstory.
•Makesureyoursnapscanbe
digestedquickly.
Becauseit’saclosednetwork,
“makesureyou’recommunicating
yourSnapchatactivityonyour
othersocialmediaplatforms—
promoteitelsewhereandthread
thatstorythroughout,”Littleysaid.
“Holdoutonastoryandthenamp
ituponSnapchat—savetwopho-
tosof exclusivegalleryforSnapchat,
forexample—makesurealittle
‘FOMO’ismixedintheretoo.”
Andif youdon’thavethe
meanstoposttoSnapchatevery
day,“thenmakeitaneventand
servicepeoplewithaveryinterest-
ing,solidpieceof contentlessoften
formoreof aneffect.Showcaseor
supportthebrandinaspecificway
ontheplatformtofurtherthe
brandconnection.Thereisnoone
answerforanybrand.”
social media
14 May 2015 TACTICS
Momentary Messaging
How to Maximize Snapchat for Storytelling ByAmy Jacques
With easy access to the
Internet via widely available
smartphones,92 percent of teens
report going online daily,includ-
ing 24 percent who are connected
“almost constantly,”a new study
from the Pew Research Center
finds.Nearly three-quarters of
teens have access to a smart-
phone,and more than half of
those ages 13 to 17 say that they
go online several times a day.
Defying earlier reports of its
decline among the demographic,
Facebook is still the most popu-
lar social media platform for teens,and the one that they use most
often.Forty-five percent of boys visit Facebook,compared to 36 per-
cent of girls.
Half of teens are using Instagram,and nearly as many use
Snapchat,the survey says.At 23 percent,
girls are more likely to use Instagram than
boys (17 percent).Teens ages 15 to 17 are
more likely than younger teens to use
Facebook,Snapchat and Twitter.Girls
dominate visually oriented social media
for sharing,while boys usually own gam-
ing consoles and play video games,Pew
finds.
Middle- and upper-income teens
lean toward Instagram and Snapchat,
while those from less-well-off households
often use Facebook.Some 88 percent of
teens have access to cellphones or smart-
phones,and 90 percent of them exchange
text messages.The survey reports that a typical teen sends and receives
30 texts per day,through telephone-company systems and also via
mobile-messaging apps such as Kik orWhatsApp. — Greg
Beaubien
Study:With Smartphones,SomeTeensAre Online‘Almost Constantly’
Amy Jacquesisthemanaging
editorofpublicationsforPRSA.
AnativeofGreenville,S.C.,she
holdsamaster’sdegreeinarts
journalismfromtheNewhouse
SchoolatSyracuseUniversity.
Shealsoholdsabachelor’s
degreeinadvertisingfromthe
UniversityofGeorgia’sGradyCollegeandacertificatein
magazineandwebsitepublishingfromNewYorkUniversity.
Snapchat by the Numbers
• There are more than 100 million
monthly active users on the platform.
• There are more than 1 billion Snapchat
Stories viewed per day.
• The target demographic for the plat-
form is users ages 15-25.
• Seventy percent of Snapchat users are
women.
• One-third of the entire user base (40
million) lives in the United States.
• 120 million users are sharing more than
700 snaps per day,which is more than the
combined original content on Instagram and
Facebook. — Gregory Littley/Snapchat
bloomberg/gettydeanbelcher/stone